Bethnal Green Ventures

An accelerator programme for people who want to change the world using technology.

Bethnal Green Ventures (BGV) is an accelerator programme, early-stage investor and support network for ambitious startups using technology to change the world.

Through an intensive three-month accelerator programme BGV invests in and supports great teams with new ideas to help overcome social and environmental problems.

Paul Miller

Paul is a Partner at Bethnal Green Ventures where he is focused on helping building new ventures that solve important social and environmental problems.

"We’re very lucky at Bethnal Green Ventures that all our LPs (Big Society Capital, Nesta and Nominet Trust) have invested in us because they want to see technology used for a positive social purpose and done so to the highest ethical standards."

Paul Miller, Partner, Bethnal Green Ventures

The challenge

The team at Bethnal Green Ventures believes that there is huge potential for the online world to radically improve things that really matter in the offline world. From health and social care to designing new forms of education, energy creation and employment.

The aim of the project

BGV seeks out people with great ideas. They might be software developers, designers or people with personal experience of something they want to change – from teachers and doctors, to patients and carers. They look for early-stage ideas and are more interested in potential than experience.

BGV invests £20,000 in each team in exchange for 6% equity. It provides a three month programme of support and advice to help build, test and launch each startup.

The aim is to not only launch the new ventures, but also to build an alumni community that will go on to create and run other social start-ups in the future; growing the social tech market.

Positive outcomes

Since March 2012, BGV’s accelerator programme has invested £1.4m in 86 startups that use technology to address major social and environmental problems.

BGV currently has 56 active tech for good start-ups in its portfolio that have raised over £23m in further funding between them. These are estimated to have benefited over 6.5m people with their products and services.

By supporting entrepreneurs who are using digital technology to enable positive change, BGV is playing a crucial role in growing the UK’s tech for good ecosystem. It also consolidates the UK’s global reputation for creative tech for good ventures.

Notable success stories include Fairphone, the world’s first modular sustainable mobile phone, and DrDoctor, the hospital bookings system used by over 4 million NHS patients.

Nominet Trust is a founding partner of BGV which has created a pipeline for Nominet Trust’s Social Tech Seed programme. More than ten Nominet Trust funded projects came through Bethnal Green Ventures’ accelerator, including Open Utility and Konnektis.

"Last year we expanded our offer by being able to invest up to £50,000 in great teams after the accelerator stage. This year we’re planning a fund to be able to back alumni and other tech for good ventures with next stage capital. This will help to plug a notable hole in seed-stage impact investment available to startups in the tech for good space."

Paul Miller, Partner, Bethnal Green Ventures

Watch this short clip to hear from organisations on the accelerator programme